Metro Washington Council afl-cio

Nearly $400 has been raised in less than 24 hours for taxi driver Peter Ibik (right, in hat), who was fired recently after organizing fellow taxi drivers in Montgomery County. Supporters want to raise $1,000 to help Ibik, who has worked as a taxi driver with Barwood, Montgomery County's biggest taxi company, for 17 years. After winning a slew of reforms that cap the amount taxi companies can charge drivers to rent cars, provide drivers with means to arbitrate unfair terminations and unfair treatment and the ability to set up their own driver-owned and run co-op, “Peter was terminated by Barwood and was without any income for six weeks, which is a huge hardship for any taxi driver who lives paycheck to paycheck,” says the AFL-CIO’s Beth Levie. “Taxi drivers in the county--like other drivers across the country--work 14-16 hour days and most do not make the federal minimum wage, which is why Peter and other drivers are standing up--and winning.”- photo: Ibik, in hat, in June, 2014 when the Montgomery County taxi drivers joined the National Taxi Workers’ Union; photo by Chris Garlock